Microsoft: Windows 8 to streamline & simplify initial set-up

Upgrade and setup have long been hurdles for Windows OS owners, admitted Steven Sinofsky, Windows Live president. With the upcoming Windows 8, he said, Microsoft wants to make installation an all-around simpler process.

Image: Microsoft/Building Windows 8

Writing at the Building Windows 8 blog, Sinosky said the company was looking into how best to streamline the process for those updating from Windows 7 and customers starting fresh with the new OS.

“Our aim in improving setup is to reduce the time from start to finish so that customers can get to Windows and use the full power of Windows to further customize and ultimately enjoy their new Windows experience,” explained Sinofsky.

Microsoft reached out to a specific Windows niche to discover the best way to ease people into Windows 8.

“During planning for Windows 8, we wanted to hear from customers who chose not to upgrade to Windows 7 even though their PCs would run it,” said Christa St. Pierre, Windows setup and deployment. “In 2010 we commissioned a study of how people make PC purchase decisions, and talked to customers in three global markets to find out more.”

What the company heard, she explained, was one recurring word: difficult. “So even though many customers wanted to upgrade, the current setup experience might be something that just wasn’t easy enough to make them feel confident in doing so,” she said.

St. Pierre believes revamping the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor so it’s less cluttered with redundant information will make a world of difference to those befuddled customers.

Image: Microsoft/Building Windows 8

“This end-to-end experience included four different web and client experiences and required the average customer to walk through 60 screens to complete. The primary reason for the high screen count was the repetition of information,” said St. Pierre. “In Windows 8, rather than having Upgrade Advisor, Setup, and Windows Easy Transfer as separate apps or features, we’ve folded them together into one fast and fluid experience in which we first determine if your PC, apps, and devices will work in the new OS, note which things you want to keep, and then install the new OS.”

A new button included in the installation menu will quickly suspend blocked apps. Other tweaks – such as moving entire file folders at a time, hard link operation support and merging the “Windows.~q” and “Windows.~tr” transport folder into a singular “Windows.~old” folder 0 were made to simplify the upgrade process.

The end result according to St. Pierre is a Windows 8 update system that requires “one end-to-end experience and as few as 11 clicks.”

To avoid upsetting users who know their way around computers and have crafted their own custom builds, St. Pierre also promised the company’s past efforts toward maintaining backward compatibility would continue. Applications, Windows settings and user accounts and files can all be transferred from Windows 7 to Windows 8.

“We sought to maintain very high backwards compatibility with existing unattended installation configurations that IT Pros or advanced users have spent time on for Windows 7, so you can expect those to work consistently for Windows 8 as well, without having to start over,” she said.

Microsoft’s goal is for both computer illiterates and pros alike to be completely satisfied with the myriad options.

“We have integrated what was once many separate steps for people to perform when preparing and starting their setup into a streamlined user experience, with a fast and reliable setup engine under the hood,” said St. Pierre. “Customers who choose to install Windows from an online source will have a greatly improved experience over what we’ve delivered in the past, with smaller and faster downloads, as well as increased resiliency and control.” (via Building Windows 8)